File photo of the U.S. Capitol. (Li Sha / The Dajiyuan)
[People News] Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives from different parties jointly sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, calling for a comprehensive review of a transaction in which a Chinese company is acquiring the well-known American robotic vacuum cleaner company iRobot.
According to a report by Voice of America, Republican Representative Zach Nunn of Iowa and Democratic Representative Richie Torres of New York sent a letter on January 8 to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, requesting that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which he chairs, conduct a “comprehensive review” of the transaction in which the Chinese company Picea Robotics Co., Ltd. is acquiring iRobot. Both representatives are members of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
iRobot is a pioneering global manufacturer of household robotic vacuum cleaners. In 2002, it successfully launched the Roomba household robotic vacuum and was once the industry leader. However, in recent years it has suffered continuous losses and announced bankruptcy in December 2025. It was then acquired by its largest supplier and creditor, Picea Robotics, which is headquartered in Shenzhen. Picea’s Hong Kong subsidiary will fully control the company’s equity.
Representatives Torres and Nunn noted that Picea is a company supported by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology under the “Little Giant” program. Therefore, the transaction raises significant concerns regarding national security and data privacy and should be subject to a “comprehensive review” by CFIUS.
The two lawmakers said in the letter that iRobot’s devices collect indoor mapping data, movement patterns, and potentially audio and video information from American households, and that “turning the company over to Chinese control could allow the Chinese Communist Party to gain access to information about the private spaces of U.S. citizens in an unprecedented manner.”
They also noted that under China’s National Intelligence Law and other laws, Chinese companies and their subsidiaries have a legal obligation to cooperate with state intelligence agencies and to share data when requested.
Nunn and Torres also said that iRobot possesses important intellectual property in the fields of autonomous navigation, artificial intelligence, and robotics. These technologies have dual-use military and civilian characteristics and could benefit China’s implementation of its military-civil fusion strategy.
In addition to calling on CFIUS to conduct a comprehensive review of the transaction, the bipartisan letter further recommended that the committee consider whether mitigation measures would be sufficient to address these concerns, or whether the transaction should be completely prohibited.
The two lawmakers wrote in the letter: “The Chinese Communist Party continues to seek the strategic acquisition of U.S. companies to enhance its technological and intelligence capabilities. We must not allow our bankruptcy laws to become a back door for the CCP to obtain sensitive U.S. technologies and access the private data of U.S. citizens.”
The two lawmakers requested that Secretary Bessent provide a briefing on the review by February 8.
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